By the time the Marvel Cinematic Universe got to Avengers: Infinity War, the franchise could do no wrong. There had been a few misses, sure, but everything was in place for an epic story that brought together every corner of the MCU. Infinity War did its job perfectly, making Thanos the most menacing threat in the franchise’s history and ending on a massive cliffhanger that set up the next team-up movie, Avengers: Endgame. With Phase Three wrapping up, Endgame acted as a swan song for everything that came before, tying up more than a few loose ends while creating some others.
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Endgame marked the start of a shift in the MCU, one that saw the focus go from building to team-up movies to focusing on individual characters. However, plenty of mistakes have been made in the last six years, including some that the franchise is still trying to recover from as it prepares to release the next two Avengers movies.
1) Betting Big on Kang
After finding success with Thanos, the MCU had to find another Big Bad to terrorize its heroes. The powers that be landed on Kang, who came out of the gates swinging in Loki Season 1. Unfortunately, subsequent appearances of the character left a lot to be desired, and the MCU had to do away with him entirely after issues in Jonathan Majors’ personal life forced Marvel Studios to cut ties with the actor. Kang may have become every bit as good as Thanos, but too much was put on his shoulders too fast.
2) Not Following-Up on Shang-Chi’s Story
The MCU struggled to be consistent in Phase 4, releasing movies and shows that failed to reach their potential. The only film that exceeded expectations was Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which told the story of a martial arts master who has to fight his father, the real Mandarin, to save the world. Shang-Chi was beaming with potential, but in the four years since its release, there has been no continuation of the titular hero’s story. He won’t even appear again until Avengers: Doomsday in December 2026.
3) Making Disney+ Shows as Important as the Movies
With so many stories to tell after Endgame, the MCU gave some of its characters their own TV shows on the Disney+ streaming service. They seemed harmless enough at first, focusing on an alternate version of Loki and introducing characters like Moon Knight. However, things quickly go out of hand fast because the shows started affecting projects on the big screen, making it more difficult to keep track of everything going on in the MCU.
4) Having Eternals Be the First Post-Endgame Team-Up Movie
With the Avengers gone, the MCU wanted to bring a new team of heroes into the fold: the Eternals. The ancient beings appeared to have promise, and the cast of actors bringing them to life didn’t hurt matters. Sadly, Eternals failed to make its titular team seem all that interesting, so the MCU washed its hands of the property, only referencing it again in Captain America: Brave New World to address the giant Celestial in the Indian Ocean.
5) Letting Post-Credits Scenes Sit for Too Long
One of the problems with Eternals being forgotten is that it had a pretty exciting post-credits scene that introduced Thanos’ brother, Starfox. The MCU hasn’t mentioned the character since, but it’s not the only credits tag to fail to get the love it deserves. Other characters, including Hercules and Clea, made their debuts in post-credits scenes and are still waiting to get another shot after years of waiting.
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6) Never Getting Hulk Back on Track
Endgame took a huge swing by having Bruce Banner merge with the Hulk persona to create “Smart Hulk.” At the time, it felt like a logical way to progress the heroes’ story, but he’s been stuck in limbo ever since, despite making cameo appearances in Shang-Chi and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Smart Hulk hasn’t gotten any time to shine in recent years, and the real Hulk hasn’t shown any signs of returning to create drama for his alter-ego.
7) Releasing Black Widow Too Late
Following Natasha Romanoff’s death in Endgame, the MCU decided to do the character a solid by releasing the prequel movie Black Widow, set after the events of Captain America: Civil War. It was a fine movie, introducing great characters like Yelena Belova and Red Guardian and providing additional insight into the titular hero’s life. Had it come out earlier, though, it would’ve made her death in Endgame hit much harder and set up the supporting characters for even bigger roles.
8) Killing Off Scarlet Witch
Wanda Maximoff lost as much as anyone in Infinity War, having to kill her boyfriend, Vision, to protect the Mind Stone, only to have Thanos turn back time and steal it anyway. When she returned in Endgame, she wasn’t over Vision’s death, which carried over into WandaVision. The Disney+ show finally saw Wanda embrace her role as the Scarlet Witch, and she used her newfound power to try to make her children real in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, she bites it at the end of the movie, ending her story just as it was really beginning.
9) Bringing Hugh Jackman Back as Wolverine
After gaining the rights to the X-Men, the MCU wasted no time putting another Deadpool movie into production. Ryan Reynolds convinced his old buddy Hugh Jackman to return as Wolverine, giving the Merc With a Mouth the team-up he always wanted. However, after the success of Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s clear Jackman isn’t going anywhere, which complicates matters for the MCU. It would’ve been smarter to cast a new actor as Logan and have them fill the role Jackman finds himself in.
10) Having Rhodey Be a Skrull
Most of the entries on this list have redeeming qualities or look bad only with the benefit of hindsight. Making Rhodey a Skrull after Civil War doesn’t fit into either of those categories. The MCU wanted to adapt the iconic “Secret Invasion” storyline from the comics, so it turned a major character into a shape-shifting alien to prove the stakes were real. However, the consequences, such as making Rhodey miss the death of his best friend, Tony Stark, clearly weren’t considered, especially because the revelation has barely been referenced since.
Do you think the entries on this are mistakes? Which other MCU blunders do you think deserve a spot? Let us know in the comments below!
